Voyage Planning – SOLAS (Safety of Life At Sea Convention)

Regulation V/34 ‘Safe Navigation and avoidance of dangerous

situations’, is a new regulation. It concerns prior planning for your
boating trip, more commonly known as voyage or passage planning.
Voyage planning is basically common sense. As a pleasure boat user, you
should particularly take into account the following points when planning
a boating trip:

• weather: before you go boating, check the weather forecast and get
regular updates if you are planning to be out for any length of time.

• tides: check the tidal predictions for your trip and ensure that they fit
with what you are planning to do.

• limitations of the vessel: consider whether your boat is up to the

proposed trip and that you have sufficient safety equipment and stores
with you.

• crew: take into account the experience and physical ability of your crew.
Crews suffering from cold, tiredness and seasickness won’t be able to do
their job properly and could even result in an overburdened skipper.

• navigational dangers: make sure you are familiar with any navigational
dangers you may encounter during your boating trip. This generally
means checking an up to date chart and a current pilot book or almanac.

• contingency plan: always have a contingency plan should anything go

wrong. Before you go, consider bolt holes and places where you can take
refuge should conditions deteriorate or if you suffer an incident or injury.
Bear in mind that your GPS set is vulnerable and could fail at the most
inconvenient time. It is sensible and good practice to make sure you are
not over-reliant on your GPS set and that you can navigate yourself to
safety without it should it fail you.

• information ashore: make sure that someone ashore knows your plans
and knows what to do should they become concerned for your well being.
The Coastguard Voluntary Safety Identification Scheme (commonly
known as CG66) is also free and easy to join. The scheme aims to help
the Coastguard to help you quickly should you get into trouble
while boating. It could save your life.
Radar Reflectors
Many large ships rely on radar for navigation and for spotting other
vessels in their vicinity. So, whatever size your boat is, it’s important to
make sure that you can be seen by radar.
Regulation V/19 requires all small craft to fit a radar reflector ‘if
practicable’. If your boat is more than 15m in length, you should be able
to fit a radar reflector that meets the IMO requirements of 10m2. If your
boat is less than 15m in length, you should fit the largest radar reflector
you can. Whatever size your boat is, the radar reflector should be fitted
according to the manufacturer’s instructions and as high as possible to
maximise its effectiveness.

Life Saving Signals

Regulation V/29 requires you to have access to an illustrated table of the
recognised life saving signals, so that you can communicate with the
search and rescue services or other boats if you get into trouble. You can
get a free copy of this table in a leaflet produced by the MCA. You can
also find it in various nautical publications. If your boat is not suitable for
carrying a copy of the table on board (because it’s small or very exposed),
make sure you’ve studied the table before you go boating. Larger boats
should keep a copy on board.

Assistance to other Craft

Regulations V/31, V/32 and V/33 require you:
• to let the Coastguard and any other vessels in the vicinity know if you
encounter anything that could cause a serious hazard to navigation, if it
has not already been reported. You can do this by calling the Coastguard
on VHF, if you have it on board, or by telephoning them at the earliest
opportunity. The Coastguard will then warn other vessels in the area.

• to respond to any distress signal that you see or hear and help anyone or
any boat in distress as best you can.

Misuse of Distress Signals

Regulation V/35 prohibits misuse of any distress signals. These are
critical to safety at sea and by misusing them you could put your or
someone else’s life at risk.